Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Christians and Politically Charged Facebook Posts

I missed the debate tonight but that’s okay
because I can get plenty of passionately opinionated responses on Facebook as
to who won!

Tonight one of my Facebook friends left a comment
on his status that he will be getting off of Facebook until November 7th
because he is sick of the political bickering on both sides.Honestly I am very tempted to do the
same.One thing that particularly
breaks my heart in the midst of this political season is how many Christians
are so aligning themselves with one party or the other to the point that it
comes across that they see their own opinions as being God’s opinion.In other words if their candidate
doesn’t win then evil has triumphed.However, I think there is another kind of evil that is being propagated
through social media that in my opinion is more destructive than the election
of a certain presidential candidate.

I am not against Christians having political
opinions.The truth is that we all
have opinions and hopefully most folks take great effort to make sure that our
opinions are well-informed. However when any Christian becomes so vocal about a
particular party or candidate it gives me pause because it is giving way too
much weight to something which is certainly peripheral to the Christian
faith.The way some folks are
posting on Facebook one might think that backing one of the two candidates is
as important as any other matter of the Christian faith.I am concerned because when this type
of posture is taken it becomes a way of siding with the divisions of our fallen
broken world and its systems rather than with the redemptive beauty of
Christ.

In the Apostle Paul’s day the world was just as
divisive (actually probably more so).And it was in that context Paul wrote the stunning words of Galatians
3:28-29

“In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew,
slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are
all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s
family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the
covenant promises.(The Message)”

Whenever we, as Christ-followers, jump head-long
into the political divisiveness of this world in a very public way we are not
simply taking a political stand but endorsing and empowering the same barriers
that keep people divided in our world.The good news of the Gospel is that in Christ all of the identifiers of
our world are made secondary in Him.It doesn’t matter where you come from, what gender you are, what
socio-economic class or race you are.In Christ all of those divisions are made irrelevant or at least
secondary.

As people wishing to live in such a way as to
announce the kingdom of God and the rule of King Jesus we are definitely taking
a step back into slavery whenever we step into playing the same old divisive
power game of the world.I don’t
think that this means that a Christian cannot have political opinions or even back
a candidate, but when we do, it must be in a redemptive and reconciling way (we
have some Biblical examples of this with Daniel and Joseph of the Old
Testament).

It would be good for us Christians to remember
that the political system of Rome in the first century was both brutal and
corrupt, yet neither Jesus nor Paul (or any of the disciples for that matter)
spent any time railing against it.They realized, as should we, that there is a kingdom more powerful than
Rome and a king greater than Caesar. They also realized that the foolishness and weakness of the
Gospel would work like yeast through dough (in hidden and mysterious ways) and
ultimately prove more powerful than Rome or Caesar.

We must ask ourselves if the publicizing of our
political opinions in such passionate and black-and-white terms is in line with
the posture of Jesus and the apostles or if it is in fact a type of reasoning
that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.Whatever the outcome of the election our hope is in neither
Romney or Obama but in King Jesus.

My hope is that democrats and republicans,
anarchists and green partiers, libertarians an libertines, tea partiers and tea
totlers, gays and lesbians, celibates and straight couples, rich and poor,
black and white, illegal aliens and native Americans, protestants and Catholics,
pro-guns and no guns would come to know Jesus as their king and to live in the
reality of His kingdom.May we
live in such a way that tears down the barriers in our culture or society that
stand against this end.

5 comments:

I attend the Vineyard in Springfield< MO, and have really enjoyed reading this blog, and this post is especially pithy and apropos. Finding this blog has been a happy internet accident. Thanks for taking the time to write this down.

I attend the Vineyard in Springfield< MO, and have really enjoyed reading this blog, and this post is especially pithy and apropos. Finding this blog has been a happy internet accident. Thanks for taking the time to write this down.

Well I got an interesting text this morning: "Congratulations, YOU won! Enjoy the end of freedom as you know it!"

Wait a minute; I didn't win. In fact, due to the electoral college system, and due to the state I live in, the results would have been the same whether I voted or not.

My news feed is now flooded with "We're all gonna die and it's ALL YOUR FAULT" type posts.

But wait, those comments are all being posted by Christians. Aren't you supposed to be trusting that God is in control? None of my atheist friends are posting such things.

Newsflash, people: He's been president for the past four years. None of the terrible things everyone was afraid would happen four years ago, have happened yet. He doesn't breathe fire, or eat children for breakfast.

"But, but, he's not a CHRISTIAN!" First of all, you don't know that, and second of all, bearing the christian label does not make one trustworthy or competent.

About Me

About me? Well... I started this blog back in 2005 because I am a bit of an outward processor. I love to wrestle with questions with others. I guess I probably feel like I have something unique to say or contribute through this blog (doesn't every blogger;-) I write here about the things I love: music, movies, theology, family, spirituality and culture and often about how these areas are connected. I am pastor of Northshore Vineyard in Covington, Louisiana. If you are looking for a blog with answers this may not be the place for you, but if you're looking for better questions then you might want to join in a little wrestling! Go ahead and subscribe to the blog before you leave today. You know you want to!